SPCR Studentships in Primary Health Care

PhD Studentships in Primary Care 2026

Applications are invited from individuals with a strong academic record who wish to develop a career in primary care research.  Awards are offered at all nine Universities within the NIHR School for Primary Care Research: Bristol, Exeter, Keele, Manchester,  Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Southampton and University College London (UCL).

Applicants must have a first degree in a discipline relevant to primary care research and will be expected to complete a PhD/ DPhil during the award period. The precise academic qualifications required depend on the university and training offered. This award will fund tuition fees to the value of home fees; students with overseas status are welcome to apply but will need to fund the remainder of their fees from alternative sources.  

The awards offer traditional project-specific training in areas of particular importance to primary care and awarded to applicants from diverse backgrounds including e.g., medical statistics, social sciences, health economics, health psychology.   

Studentship awards include fees and an annual tax-free stipend (plus a London weighting for QMUL and UCL and college fees in Oxford). 

Each university runs its own recruitment process. For the majority, this will happen in the Spring, for an October start date.